Ragging on the '80s is the '70s' revenge for the ragging it got in its turn. Like they say, if you can remember the Eighties, unfortunately you were probably there. To be fair, in the Eighties I enjoyed New Wave, punk and early gothic, and decent dance music. I've got a huge vunyl collection to prove that I actually did have fun then.

@Paul Sizer: I too was envious of great UK radio while I was reading Face, Zig-Zag and NME (Somewhere I still have my unused Hacienda club card that I sent off for). The second season of Life On Mars wouldn't have gotten away with the cool music it featured unless a lot of it got played on the air (John Peel RIP). I still have a couple of those blue-label compilations of his.

American commercial radio was utter shit, but by way of consolation, Michael Mann would slip the occasional cool song into an episode of Miami Vice (like PiL's The Order of Death after pop start Fiona offs herself) or The Damned's "In Dulce Decorum" during one of the many drawn-out, slo-mo gunfights at an episode's end.

being inclined to the more 'out there' forms of music i pretty much despised the UK radio throughout the eighties with one very important (and obvious) exception. John Peel's shows were always a frustrating joy. frustrating because he played such a variety of music that you generally had to sit through a swathe of things that you didn't like before he'd spring something on you that was genuinely gobsmacking. i discovered so much music that i still love through his show.

more interesting than the music on the radio at the time were the shows such as The Tube and Snub TV which went outside the mainstream a little.

I think commercial radio desperately needs a john peel now probably more than ever before. we canvassed our students in college the other week and not one of the kids we asked (several class loads) ever listened to the radio. personally, i can't remember the last time i listened to music on the radio.

re: "In Britain, "O Superman" could be a hit record. I always liked that about us."Yes, yes...That song was an incredible comfort to me, used to listen curled up in the corner. Waves and soothing. was it number one? I'm sure it was close... memories of seeing it on Top of The Pops, don't think they ever showed all of it.Looking back it seems so strange.Can't imagine it happening now, but that is a stupid thought.

your lucky you managed to get John Peel! When i was growing up in the 80´s, we couldn´t get radio 1 in shetland on FM. Only on MW and then the reception was so poor it wasn´t worth it. For many years i truly was "who is this John Peel person they go on about?". It wasn´t till i left to go to Glasgow Uni in ´94 that i first managed to listen to radio 1 properly.

In the 80´s for us, it was just the pure processed major label music. there were no decent record shops of any kind and NME wasn´t on sale in the newsagents until i was older. Our main exposure was usually top of the pops and getting "now that´s what i call...." compilations for a xmas present. As a result a lot of this, a lot of good 80´s music completely bypassed us. I would give you a blank look if someone mentioned The Smiths or Orange Juice, but could hum on demand Hue and Cry´s "Labour of love" Paul Harcastle´s "19". the only record my Mum had was "Mississippi" by Pussycat. Gah!

@ Ina holloway - you missed the oxford road show, riverside, the other side of midnight, night network, switch, what ever you didn't get and a lot of other short lived music shows that creeped into the television.

"Speak Like A Child" and "Walls Come Tumbling Down" were the only two Style Council singles I could stomach, back then.

It's funny: I remember there was a lot of excitement about "Speak Like A Child," Paul Weller's first post-Jam single with his new band...

I listened to John Peel AND watched TOP OF THE POPS. (John Peel presented TOP OF THE POPS, once in a blue moon, and it was always funny. I wonder how many Brits here are old enough to remember "The Rhythm Pals"?)

'Walls Come Tumbling Down' was the only Style Council track I had any time for, probably because it sounded most like The Jam.

John Peel's rare appearances at the helm of Top of the Pops were priceless. And it did feature some good stuff amongst the dross. As someone said earlier, 'O Superman' was on TOTP (and I believe someone like Dave Lee Travis introduced it, looking completely out of his depth).

Did I need to bold the "before" in my statement? Here, I'll say it again:

"You must be stopped before you go too far."

And JRadley, Warren's just using you as a cover. He's obviously nostalgic for this stuff and won't own up to it. AND he's getting the added kick out of torturing everyone else in the process. Seriously. He's evil. You knew that. Stop protecting him.